Fuel for Thought

500% Return

When it comes to investing your money wisely, many people consider the return on their investments, as they should, but where can you get a 500% return on your investment? In today’s economy, that could be tough to do, or is it?

Where can you invest $20 to get a return of $1000 or more? If you knew of such an investment, would you invest?

When you talk investing with people, you generally discuss retirement savings, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, IRAs, or 401ks. What about a different kind of investment? Something with almost instant returns. Something many drivers or owner operators may overlook?

How many times have you arrived at a consignee only to be told they would not unload you until tomorrow? You have missed the receiving hours window and there was nothing they could do tonight, come back tomorrow between the hours of X and Y.

Have you ever considered what a well placed Jackson might do to help alleviate the situation in your favor? The dock worker just wants to do his/her job and go home, but how often is he or she tipped for doing something extra? Probably not very often. A little monetary show of appreciation for going above and beyond to help you out isn’t too much to ask, is it?

There is a percentage of readers who will see this and consider it outrageous to ‘have’ to tip a dock worker to ‘do their job’, and to an extent you are right. Consider though, that you are asking them to do something that is not their job, unload your truck AFTER receiving hours. They may have other duties to attend to after receiving hours and your truck is not on that list.

“Well, it’s their product and I don’t see why I have to pay them to take it, I ain’t tipping no dock worker.” If we are talking about lumpers and grocery warehouses, I agree, but this is different, they are not asking for anything, you just want to get unloaded and go get some rest.

If you think of a tip in this situation as an investment, does that change anything? It is still the same $20. A gesture of gratitude to the dock worker in the form of a $20.

So what about this 500% return?

If you can get unloaded for $20 tonight or tomorrow for free, what would that do for your schedule? If you are empty tonight, get your 10 hour break and you can now load in the morning as opposed to sitting on that load. Twenty dollars tonight might open you up to a thousand dollar or more load tomorrow.

If you would give a waiter or waitress a $20 tip for good dinner service, why not do the same for the dock worker to get unloaded and help your own bottom line at the same time?

Obviously, this will not work in all situations, but you never know if it will if you never try.

 

See you down the road,

Greg